A quick overview of Ann Arbor's plan for new greenway trail through the city

A quick overview of Ann Arbor's plan for new greenway trail through the city

The city of Ann Arbor is in the middle of an extensive planning process to come up with a master plan for a new greenway trail for pedestrians and cyclists that would run north and south through the city following the historic alignment of the Allen Creek. In some ways, it would be similar to the Border-to-Border Trail that runs along the Huron River. In fact, the two trails would connect. Now at the halfway point in the master plan process, the city’s staff provided the City Council with an update on Sept. 12, 2016. Scroll through for a quick overview of the city’s current thinking about future plans for the Allen Creek Greenway.

greenway_091216_02.jpg

Ryan Stanton | ryanstanton@mlive.com

The big picture

This aerial photo looking south toward downtown Ann Arbor (with Argo Pond and the B2B Trail at bottom left and Michigan Stadium at top middle) offers a bird’s-eye view of the landscape for the envisioned greenway trail, which generally would follow the arc of the Ann Arbor Railroad tracks that can be seen going over Argo Pond and then out past the stadium area, all the way to State and Stimson.

greenway_091216_03.jpg

Ryan Stanton | ryanstanton@mlive.com

Three zones

The city has broken down the greenway project into three main areas: a north zone connecting to the B2B Trail along the Huron River, a central zone including downtown, and a south zone extending through the University of Michigan’s Athletic Campus, down to State and Stimson near Salvation Army.

greenway_091216_04.jpg

Ryan Stanton | ryanstanton@mlive.com

North zone

A photo of the north zone.

greenway_091216_05.jpg

Ryan Stanton | ryanstanton@mlive.com

North zone map

The north zone includes the city-owned 721 N. Main property where the city has talked about creating a greenway anchor park. Going north from there, the city is considering options for crossing Main Street and the railroad tracks to link up with the B2B Trail along the Huron River. At the far north end, there’s consideration of creating an official connection from the B2B Trail, crossing the railroad tracks, to the Kuebler Langford Nature Area and Barton Nature Area.

This map also references the potential future redevelopment of the riverfront MichCon site owned by DTE Energy and the city’s plan to create a pedestrian tunnel under the railroad tracks at 201 Depot St. in 2018.